Destiny Lies in the Syndicate
by Fantasy Cat
Summary: a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine Spike's dead and she's been captured by Vicious...again. Strange how nothing appears to be what it seems. Enter crazy Sam Kaito who believes that Faye is to fulfill a great destiny.
1. Prologue

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Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (aka the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!

Prologue   


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Faye, 

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I spent last night finishing repairs on the Redtail. I figure you may want to get away for a while. I know it's not worth sticking around here stranded in the middle of Mars after all that's happened. Now I can put my focus into getting the Bebop flying again. I hope that's possible. Anyway, sorry about the way I've been acting, but both you and I should accept what Spike decided to do. So now, do whatever you want, but don't expect to take any money off this ship, cuz there ain't any. 

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Jet 

Faye managed to read the note despite the numerous bags hanging under her reddened eyes. Her world became screwed over and everything that was left decided to walk away. Spike was gone. The past night became silent with the exception of breaking hearts on the ship. It was her hope to secretly go after him. Her Redtail was too damaged and convincing Jet to fix it was like a death wish. She was getting too much crap from him. Perhaps it's because no one's noticed how different she's become since she went looking for her past. It didn't seem that Spike or Jet still believed her story. 

Now she wonders why she even came on the Bebop in the first place. 

She sat staring down the hall where Spike was seen for the last time. Could it be that Spike was still fighting down at the syndicate? Faye wondered how many hours have passed since he left. How long did it took her to finally cry herself to sleep against that wall? 

Faye walked around to look for something to tell her the time. As she entered the garage, she was blinded by the rays of sunlight over the Red Horizon. It was morning. Faye inspected her Redtail. The damages were fixed just like Jet said, but strangely enough she hadn't seen him around since she got up. 

The temptation was too strong and powerful. Should Faye give it a chance? No, she thought at first. Spike should be dead by now or on the verge of it anyway. On the verge…then maybe there was hope. Fighting with Vicious hardly had its end. What if Spike was seriously hurt? How would he get back to the Bebop? 

She would do it. Although she wouldn't know whether or not it was gonna be worth it. She was planning on getting away anyway just for the hell of it. 

The Red Dragon Syndicate would be her first stop. Just to see. Just to hope. 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"Help him" 

The men's faces were scattered with looks of shock and confusion. They looked up to the stairs where the wounded voice was coming from. 

"Well, help him! I am still in charge." 

The men what they were told as the two who were destined to fall were to rise, but only one of them would still be dreaming….


	2. Take Down the Freaks!

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Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!

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Authors Note: Yes I know what you are thinking you are absolutely confused as to who the heck Sam is, but don't worry folks he's expected to make an appearance within the next few chapters.

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Chapter One: Take down the freaks!

Her glock was set. After hiding her Redtail, Faye would at last make her entrance into the Red Dragon Syndicate Building. It was a building like no other. It stood tall as if to say that it was a powerful building, but she noticed the damage caused on the roof and the people moving about above her. Damn! She thought to herself. The battle that Spike left her for was over, but where was Spike? Was he still alive? 

This was the chance she had to take. If Spike was somewhere in the building, she had to get him out. 

She quietly made her way through the lobby of the building. She took an admiration for Spike's handy killing work. There was still blood on the walls and some bodies still lay dead. No one was present nearby. She took her chances through the bullet torn elevator that would take her to the top floor...to Vicious. 

She got herself armed and ready before the elevator door was to open. The moment was about to arrive. There would probably be dozens of Syndicate members waiting to tear her with bullets the moment they spot her there. Still, it was all worth finding Spike. 

The elevator reaches the top…the doors open…Faye sticks her gun out… 

Nothing. 

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'Where the hell was everybody?!' Faye thought frantically. 

Suddenly the sounds of footsteps were approaching behind her. She still had a chance to hide. She chose to stand by the door and fire her gun at whoever planned to enter. 

And wouldn't you know it Vicious, entered through the door. Well, actually, it fell over since it was mostly destroyed from the battle. Faye had an evil grin. Killing Vicious was just like getting Spike back. He was responsible for causing Spike to increase her misery. 

Vicious froze the moment he felt the cold metal of Faye's gun against the side of his head. He was a little to calm; he didn't bother to call for his men to come or to even draw his katana. 

"Where's Spike?" 

Vicious looked down silent for a moment until he decided to bring his head up for Faye to see the smirk on his face. 

"No longer of this world." 

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'Spike?! Oh God, no!' Faye was breaking up mentally. She had to hold on to the moment. If she weakened, Vicious would have an advantage. Faye looked down to cover up the sadness building up. Her face turned brutal and angry. 

"At least I can still kill you." 

"Spike couldn't do it," chuckled Vicious. "What makes you think you can take me?" 

With a snap of his finger the sound of rushing footsteps erupted. Faye began rushing over to the other side of the massive room and hid behind Vicious's "throne". She managed to bring down a few members the moment she caught sight of them entering. 

Unfortunately she was enormously outnumbered. No matter how hard she tried to defend herself. She was dragged back to Vicious by several syndicate men and disarmed within minutes. 

"So you think you can just waltz in here getting whatever it is you want? As long as you're here…" Vicious draws his katana to Faye's chest. "…you might as well stay."


	3. Don't be fooled, Space Cowgirl

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Okay, so I know there ain't a lot of dialog going with this story, and the characters maybe OOC, but work with me. The thing wouldn't let me give the story its full title on the main CB fanfic page. Blahblahblah. I'll mumble some more later. Enjoy.

Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!

Chapter Two: Don't be fooled, Space Cowgirl

Faye spent that night imprisoned in her bedroom in the syndicate building. All of her weapons were removed from her. She was a total mess from Vicious trying to control her as she was being taken to the bedroom. The room was all first class. Faye liked it at first, but once she entered the room, Vicious had already shut the door on her. She turned around. There was no door, only a wall. Damn. The door only opened from the outside. Fortunately, there were some other doors that she could open through the inside, but where did they lead? 

The first she opened led to her own personal bathroom. Not bad, there was one spacious bathtub there. The second door was just a darn closet. The last door led to another bedroom that was tons more spacious and more fanciful than her own new bedroom. She quickly shut the door. Damn, again. Her room was right next to Vicious, and what makes him think that she would ever want to come into his room? 

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Vicious approached the basement cells with a member behind him, but not for protection. The man was carrying a tray of food in his hands. They stopped a few doors down the hall and Vicious used his keys to enter. The cell was small and the walls were white brick. There were no windows except the one on the cell door that only showed the hallway. In the corner laid a bandaged man who clothes were worn out. Most of the blood that was once on this man's face was cleaned off. 

Vicious approached the man loosely chained to the corner. Only his scruffy green hair was showing. 

"I believe I have found the perfect way to make you suffer." 

"I knew just letting me die on the spot wasn't your style," Spike managed to cough up weakly. 

"Indeed. You see, there are worse things than death, such as being trapped forever in your own nightmares, which you will be. I hope you enjoy your new home. It's bright I must say." Vicious ordered the man carrying the tray of food to place it down by Spike as the two were walking away, Vicious paused for a moment. 

"Just one more thing. I believe I have something that belongs to you in this very building." Spike curiously looked at something that was being fiddled in Vicious's hand. A yellow fabric. Spike knew that it was Faye's bandana. 

"I'll take good care of her, but I know you. I know what you would rather do. If you want to kill yourself, go ahead. But if you plan to die, there will be no point in keeping her alive. If you try in any way to kill yourself, I will just have to dispose of Faye. It's your choice Spike. You can choose to be free or you choose to spare the shrew woman. I'll leave you with your nightmares. Good night, Spike." 

Spike was pissed. This really was hell. Nothing could make him smile, except for maybe Faye's angry face if she knew that Spike would rather kill himself and leave her at death's door. No, no. Just a joke. 

Spike noticed the food by his side. They were the only tools in the room that he could use. He could be free. He could finally awake from the nightmare, and just maybe, he could finally be with Julia. But thinking about Faye brought a mixture of poor emotions upon him. The choice would be hell. 

Either way, he took one last look at the food before he made his final decision. 

And decided to dig in.


	4. The Shrew Woman's Escape Attempt

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For the first time ever, Fantasy Cat would like to acknowledge its very first reviewers so thank you Katie, Piro Flare, and RySenaki. Your reviews were wonderful as well as unique might I add. And guess what?! You'll finally get to meet Sam Kaito in the next chapter! Ya know, sometimes I think I brag too much about this guy that ya never heard of.

Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!

Chapter Three: The Shrew Woman's Escape Attempt

So here's the situation that it had been for the next three months… 

The Red Dragon Syndicate was alive and powerful again. The building was rebuilt and it was bigger than ever. With Vicious's increasing power, the Red Dragons became the most feared, yet most respected Syndicate on the entire planet. Anything that Vicious desired was always done for him. 

Faye was basically mourning over Spike's "assumed" death. At least she had a place to get away, but basically she couldn't leave her room for any reason, except…Faye became somewhat an escort for Vicious. She had to go with him to all of the conferences with other syndicates, and other evening galas. A least she got to wear all the really fancy and elegant dresses she wanted, but all of this was meant for Vicious to basically show off himself and to convince others that his powers go even as far as the ladies department. The only thought that ran through Faye's mind knowing this was _'UGH!'_

As for Spike, living sucked more than ever. Especially, when Vicious made an effort to come down to his cell about every other day to give him a blow in the stomach where he slashed him, just for the fun of it. Spike slowly lost his sanity, a perfect opportunity for Vicious to give him a final humiliation by putting him in a straitjacket. He basically gave up on any hope. 

Faye felt like that a little. When she was in her room, she would usually cry and think. Faye was not a quitter though. For the past three months, she took the liability of making an escape plan. The longer she planned, the better it would be. 

She had no way of getting in contact with Jet, nor would it be wise to just hop into her Redtail and fly off. She had to think differently, a lot differently. 

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The skies were dark and gray above Mars, and the streets were more quiet than usual. Vicious would be meeting with the head of a recently developed syndicate, the Gold Lion. Secretly, it was Vicious's hope that he would one day take it over. Faye wore her favorite green dress she was given (of course, if you were planning on running away like her, you would run away wearing something you would like to keep). 

Anyway at this particular meeting, Faye was not allowed to go into the conference room with Vicious. She had to sit on her butt in the lobby in between two guards. In her casual voice she used her usual request of going into a powdered room. The guards guided her to it. _'Heheheheh' _she thought. _'Just slip into the "Women Only" powder room and slip out the window_'. She kept a straight face as they walked and then she saw the sign on the door. Unisex. 

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'UNISEX?!' Faye's plan was about to take an awkward situation. 

So they all entered the restroom as Faye had assumed would happen. Then out of a quick thought, she decided to go into a bathroom stall. One that was right next to a wall. If she hold out long enough, the guards would grow tired and decide to wait outside the restroom instead. Faye went in and placed a small mirror facing back where the guards were. She sat on the toilet and waited. In twenty minutes, it was successful. Quietly she waited a little longer and stepped out of the stall. The window was frozen shut. 'Damn' She forgot that it was winter. She sacrificed her long lucius nails and all feeling in her fingers, but she managed to open the window. She was three stories above ground. She hated the fact that she wearing high heels. Slowly she made her way down to where she could see through the second story window. There was no watching she could move on… 

"Hey!" a voice shouted. 

In split second, Faye thought the voice came from someone in that second story room instead of the annoying kid that was joking around on the street. Either way, she ended up losing her grip on her escape attempt and she crashed into a cold, icy, pile of snow in the alley. What a crash. It hurt like hell. 

"Oh, shit," she groaned. 

"You're in it…very deep." She looked up to see Vicious and the guards there looking down on her.


	5. Sam I Am

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Hee, hee, hee. I love reviewers. I started on this story like two days ago, and I'm already on the fifth chapter. I must've had this idea in my head so long cuz I'm finally getting it all out. Anyways, thanx to all my reviewers of this fic, old and new.

And now…

Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!

Chapter Four: Sam I Am

The trip to the building was silent. Faye had no idea what her punishment was going to be for trying to escape. It was probably going to be ugly. 

When they entered the lobby of the building, Vicious's bird swooped down from the ceiling charging at Faye. The bird began several blowing pecks at Faye's skin. "Get this damn bird!#$^*$$#^&#@!," Faye was cursing as she used every attempt to get the bird off. Vicious and the other just stepped away. Just then, Faye found an unused vase on the table, and threw it at the bird. It missed the bird by only inches and the vase crashed against the wall upon impact. The bird chased Faye down a small staircase to the lower floor managing to peck at her dress down the way. When they got to the bottom Faye managed to grab the bird and attempted to strangle it while the bird was pecking her. 

Finally Vicious came down and called the bird. It flew to him and perched on his shoulder. "I see you've discovered the cells. I figure that a few down here will cool you off from your uncontrollable behavior." 

"Uncontrollable behavior?" Faye wondered. "I was trying to escape in a non-violent fashion." 

"But were you hurting my poor bird." Vicious pulled out a bird treat from his pocket to feed the bird. "Wasn't she?" he asked the bird and he began to stroke it. 

"He was attacking me!" Faye's face turned angry. 

"No excuses. I'll think you'll like this room," he said as he pushed Faye into a darkened cell. "It suits a shrew woman like you." All Faye did was grunted with anger as he locked the door. 

She looked at herself and noticed there were holes in her dress and that she was bleeding in several spots at once. She felt her cheeks and found some swelling spots. She knew it didn't felt the same. 

"Aw, hell," she said loudly to herself. 

"Lo." 

"Huh? Who is that? Oh well." 

"Lo." 

"Stop staying that! Who is that?!" Faye was getting pissed. 

"Sorry I thought you would enjoy a little humor." The weird stranger appeared out of nowhere from the back corner of the room. "Hi, my name's Sam Kaito. I've been residing in the cell next to yours for three months. 

Faye could tell he's been down here for a while. He turned out to be very hairy for someone who looked young. His beard was long and dangled out. His hair went down a little past his shoulder. Meanwhile she was thinking to herself _'just don't smell him!'_

"How did you piss Vicious off? It couldn't be anything big since you're alive and all," Faye wondered. 

"Yeah, I know. But I think I'm going to die tomorrow." 

"What makes you think that?" 

"I can predict things." 

"You?" 

"Yup, I use to be very valuable to the Red Dragons." 

"You're a Red Dragon?!" 

"Former Red Dragon," Sam snapped back at Faye. "Anyway, so yeah. Me and Vicious were good and all. I can understand how anyone wanted power over the Red Dragons. But to be all-honest, Vicious didn't seem to have any desire for power. He just wanted it to change things and to get back at people more easily. So the syndicate split into two sides, those who were loyal to the Van and all, and there were people like me who wanted to get on Vicious's good side, cuz everyone's afraid of that guy ya know. About three months ago, my prediction powers told me that the Van was in danger and Vicious was somehow involved. Put two and two together, hahahaha. I went to inform the Van. They knew that I was a friend of Vicious, but in return for warning them about him the first time, they just gave me a prison sentence. Well, everyone forgot that I was down here since the Van is dead now." 

"How are you gonna die?" 

"When I inform you about you're destiny." 

"What destiny?" 

"I didn't think you would end up here, but for weeks there was thing that came up in my head, a prediction. No a prophecy. Involving you." 

"Okay…we just met." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me concentrate." Sam was in a trance. "Okay, okay, it is the one whose past has perished that will bring down the venomous snake that sucks the blood of the powerful dragon." 

"Well, there's nothing from my past that exists anymore. Can I really kick Vicious's ass?" 

"If that's what the prophecy says. It also says that you will bring the rightful one back to power, the one whose eye can SEE the past." 

A memory from not too long ago came back to Faye's mind, to true to be real… 

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'Look at these eyes. One of them is a fake, because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I have been seeing the past in one eye, and the present in the other. I had believed that what I saw was not all of reality...' 

"No, it can't be who I think it is…" Faye told Sam. "He's…dead." 

"Hey now. My prediction thingy is never wrong. Besides it came come true unless you complete the entire prophecy." 

"Then, I can't kill Vicious. It's not gonna come true. Spike's dead damn it!" Faye brought her head down and tried to hold back the tears. 

"Oh? You're the one who knows Spike?" 

"Huh?" Faye gasped. She brought her head up. 

But Sam was already gone. Faye was left the rest of the night crying. Meeting Sam had a bad impact than it already should on her. Despite the very cold temperature that dropped lower and lower in her cell, Faye managed to get some shut-eye. 


	6. The Psychopath Next Door

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Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!

Chapter Five: The Psychopath Next Door

Faye awoke from her short sleep. The air in the cell was getting colder…a lot colder. Ice was sinking into the corners. Which goes to show that her cell was of poor quality. 

As she was trying to sleep throughout the night. She began to consider the option of just ending her life. Sadly enough, had she not ran into Julia that fateful day, Spike might have still been alive. And then, there was the foolish fact that she still had a family in this world. Not anymore. At least she knew that she use to belong to someplace good. Nothing like the person that she became when she was unfrozen. 

And then, there was the hope that life could return to normal after her escapade. She would come back from that empty lot she called home hoping to find Spike, Jet, Ed, and Ein happy to see her there. This was far from the truth. Jet was pissed at her for constantly running off and coming back, and all she found left was Ein's food dish that was left behind. 

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'That damn message' she thought to herself. What brought herself to even let Spike know about Julia? Julia was nothing but a threat to the once happy Bebop family, and now she's done the evil deed of tearing it apart from beyond the grave. _'Besides,'_ she thought. _'No one can love a person that long, a 3-year disappearance. He was obviously a psychopath.'_ Faye just didn't want to bring herself up to even quote Spike's name cuz she knew that she would excessively cry again. 

She got herself together and finally noticed the strange item clinging to her back. Faye reached her hand out to feel what it was. It was fabricy for one thing. She pulled it off her back so she could see it… 

It was a trench coat, or what look like the remains of one. It was full of old smelly bloodstains and so many bullet holes that it began to literally tear the fabric at Faye's fingertips. She tried to put it back on her back but it was no use as the cloth tore again. 

Faye was angry and threw the worn out trench coat against the wall. As her anger stood facing the wall she noticed some strange lines in the corner of her eye. She went to the side of the wall fell them. The part of the wall within the lines was loose. A door. She got a grip on it to remove the door, and here before her eyes was a hollow vent! 

The hole look big enough for her to crawl in so she took here chances. Her hips got trapped as she tried to get them through and her legs were kicking in the air trying to squeeze in. 

When they were finally free she was inside the one of the walls that supported her cell. She was already getting dirty and sick. 

Infront of her was another vent door, which led to another cell. Light was shinning brightly through the cracks; she became jealous of the fact that whoever was in here got more light in her cell than she did. She leaned her ear onto the door but heard nothing. She quietly got the door open. 

She looked around the bright-colored cell that looked so empty. She then noticed something lying in a corner wrapped in white. It was lying down with its face towards the wall she couldn't see what it was. 

She walked over to it in hopes of a better view. Whatever it was it was strapped in a straight jacket. A crazy person. Faye feared the slightest touch would have her killed by this thing in a split second. Then again, maybe it was just Sam. 

She put her hand to it to slightly shaken it out of sleep. "Sam?" she whispered. 

Before she knew it the person was shockingly awoken from sleep. It was given Faye a heart attack. It seemed to make a silent scream as it was jerk from bed waving its arm and legs crazily around until it got itself together. 

And even stranger, it wasn't Sam. 

Faye stood aghast her green eyes staring at his brown ones. His hair was puffy and full of messed up tangles with the color in it fading. He obviously hadn't had a good shave in a while. Looking at his eyes again they seemed bloodshot and yet the colors were all wrong…or mismatched? 

Faye has breathing hard. "No" was all she kept thinking. She started to back away from him. Her head shaking at what could never be true. The person staring at her was breathing hard too a little confused at first, and then his lips began to move. He was trying to talk as if he never learned how to. 

"Fffff….fffffffa…." 

Faye was curious as she tried to look over him again... 

Then she realized what he really was trying to say. 

"Fffaye…?" 

Faye came to a realization and began backing away fast. She furiously crawled all the way back to her cell. It had to be the most horrifying experience she had ever encountered. She slammed the vent door back on where she was. She wanted to get the experience erased from her mind. She didn't want to recall and she definitely among all things would she never ever assume what she truly thought she had seen from the farthest regions of her mind. "No" was still entrapped in her brain. Her mind was in a whirl and she was still tiredly panting from the shock and fear of it all.


	7. The Plot to Assasinate Vicious

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Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer_: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!_

Chapter Six: The Plot to Assassinate Vicious

Something inside of her wanted to ignore the events of the past few days. They were quiet, yet big things in her mind were happening. Who was he? It couldn't be! And so forth. 

After things were normal, normal being Vicious's "girl" again, the twosome had another meeting with the Gold Lion Syndicate. This time in Vicious's private conference room. Faye was waiting outside the room. After her last escape attempt she had to be heavily guarded. She became bored from waiting and fell asleep on the couch. 

BOOM! A loud noise rocked the building and shocked Faye from her sleep, head to toe. Guards who were waiting outside rushed to the door of the room to find out what had just happened. The door to the room flew open as syndicate members were rushing out with smoke and few flames following them. 

Faye thought that she had a head start to find an escape route, but the smoke was quickly getting denser and was heading toward her direction. She crawled and squirmed her way across the fancy carpet in the main hall and found another small, but remotely deserted hallway. When she was free of the smoke she quickly got up and started tiptoeing. The men were still running around the main hall from the confusion being the idiots they are in Faye's mind. Her break was waiting for her. At the end of the hall was a side door that would lead her outside. Now all she had to do was run for the exit. 

Halfway through the run, something grasped at Faye's arm and caused her to nearly but painfully trip._ 'Damn Vicious' _she thought. She looked at what yanked her left arm. It was Sam. He was inside a vent with his arm sticking out of the wall grabbing Faye's. 

"What the hell are you doing?! I could've gotten out!" 

"You gotta help me Faye. They're gonna find me and kill me when they find out!" 

"Find out what?" 

"That I slipped the bomb in during the conference. It was supposed to land right behind Vicious but it rolled off and I didn't have time to deactivate it before it went off." 

"So now, Vicious knows that someone was trying to kill him. What's gonna make him suspect it was you?" 

"Oh I just know that they're going to check all the cells for weapons and bomb plans. If they find my secret hole, they're going to know it's me! Won't you pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease help me?!" 

Just then Faye heard voices talking loudly. "There's no doubt that it maybe one of the prisoners." "Vicious's orders. Kill all the prisoners." 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sam's scream was so loud, Faye was thrown into panic and she smacked him to shut up. She began to contemplate what the men just said. If they were going to kill all the prisoners then that would include…him. 

"Alright, Sam. I'll help you. Just-calm-down!" Faye growled at Sam. Sam opened up the vent door for Faye to crawl into before anyone else could see. _'I can't believe I'm back in here again!' _she thought to herself. 

"Where did she go!" demanded Vicious. "There's no sign of her anywhere," reported one of the members. "Well she couldn't have gotten too far. Send some men around the outside perimeters, and hurry!" 

Vicious began walking down the hall where Faye was when something on the ground caught his eye. If he didn't know any better the piece he picked up must've been a torn from Faye's dress. 

He looked up and noticed the vent that was slightly loose. 

"On second thought," he said. "I do believe I know where she might be headed." 

"Faye, what are you doing? I thought we were escaping!" Sam was getting nervous and whiny at the same time, much to Faye's annoyance. _'Some wise fortune-telling syndicate member he turned out to be'._

"I said I'd help you, but there are some conditions to the agreement. They're too hard to explain." 

"And you find it hard to explain why we're heading down to the cells again instead of trying to get out?!" 

Faye found the vent door that led to her old cell. She motioned for Sam to follow her to the cell next door where she hoped someone was still residing in there. 

Then she heard them enter as the noise of guns loading echoed through.


	8. Who Are You?

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Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)

By Fantasy Cat

Disclaimer_: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!_

Chapter Seven: Who Are You?

"Quit your whining, and help me with him!" Faye growled at Sam. Fortunately, the gun noises covered up their voices so they couldn't hear. Sam turned to look at Faye bending over the man who was lying in a dazed state. It was the same psycho who knew Faye. However, he didn't seem to be moving. He almost seemed like he was in an unconscious state, but why? And why the hell did Faye wanted to rescue him? There was no time to discuss the matter nor was it the time to try and wake him up. 

"To where may I ask?" Sam was shivering from the panic. The syndicate members were shooting into every cell one by one and thoroughly inspected every cell. 

"Anywhere! Don't you know any other secret passages…any special escape doors?" 

"Hey look!" Sam pointed down to the floor there was a large drain door that looked more like bars. It was awfully big and then Faye realized what it was really meant for… 

"The toilet?! No way!!!" 

"Well, I say yes way!!! I'm outta here!" Sam rushed over to open the barred drain door. Faye watched to see if it was plausible for a person to fit through. Sam squeezed is way down and he made a noise of pure disgust. 

"Eugh, God! What do they feed him?!" 

Faye looked over and gave a sigh. She had neither more time nor choice. 

Sam found himself climbing back up into the cellar. "I don't want to go down there again". 

"That's too bad," said Faye as she tried to pick up the unconscious psycho. "Now help me!" 

Sam took Spike's feet and backed up to where the drain door lied on the bottom. Sam climbed back in again despite the mess and smell of the underground. Faye held on to Spike standing up and it was extremely heavy and difficult work. 

"Are you down yet?! My legs are giving in!" 

She finally felt the unconscious psycho being dragged down by Sam. She quickly but carefully lowered his upper half down. By this time, the gun noises and voices have gotten louder…… 

They were very close. 

Faye took her time getting in after the psycho. As she was climbing the noises got so loud, they knew that they were checking the cell next door. 

The drain door was already closed. The trio was already making haste of their journey in the sewers. For the first time in her life, Faye officially hated wearing a dress and high heels. "If I knew that it required me to come into the sewers, I would probably just through the dress away afterwards," she whispered to Sam who was leading the two lifting the psycho's feet behind. Faye was doing her best to hold onto to the psycho's upper half. _'He got pretty heavy fast,'_ Faye thought. 

To add to the difficulty of their journey, neither of them had any light so it was too dark to see if they were even going straight. A light was finally coming into view but it was extremely tiny. Even as they got closer it didn't seem very big. 

"Hey, it's leading up to the surface!" said Sam cheerfully. "I'll check to see where they are." Sam put down the psycho's feet and took the small ladder up to the sewer door. He nearly fell off those stairs (it was that dark, folks). And Faye wanted nothing more than to laugh. "Come on Sam! I can climb into a sewer and carry some heavy dude with high heels, and you can't even climb a dinky ladder?" 

"Shut up…shut up…shut up!" said Sam annoyingly. He let more light into the sewer pipes while he carefully open the door. It was very bright, so it must be leading to somewhere outside. 

"Yes, I know this alley. I have a secret apartment in a building down the block. If we can get him there we should be fine." 

"What about the Syndicate? We would be carrying him out in broad daylight!" 

To answer Faye's concerning question Sam decided to get to inspect the area some more. The alleys were virtually empty but there were crowds everywhere near the street. "That's true Faye, but think about it, Vicious is expecting us to be running about in the alleys. If we push our way into the crowds, we can make it there without anyone spotting us." 

"I hope your right," said Faye. She lifted the psycho up to Sam. Once Faye got out they quickly made their way into the busy crowd. They smelled awful and were noticeably dirty but the two decided to lift the psycho onto his feet so they could blend in. By now the biggest concern on both of their minds is how soon did the Syndicate get outside and searched. They would know that all three of them would be gone. And then, they would possibly commence 'search and destroy'. 

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

They were a fortunate bunch. They made it through and into the building. The two breathe heavy sighs of relief and exhaustion. The only work they had left was carrying the psycho up to the secret apartment on the third floor. 

Once they entered the apartment, no one thought about the fact that someone may have saw them go into the building, nor did they cared. They were tired, dirty, and perhaps the smelliest people in the building. They laid the psycho on the couch and now they could talk. 

"Do you think they drugged him?" asked Faye. 

"That's a possibility." 

Faye began to take off the psycho's straitjacket while he was still unconscious. 

"Why did you save him, Faye?" asked Sam. "Do you know him?" 

Faye ignored him her eyes were completely perplexed on the unconcious Spike Speigel who laid on the couch. Beneath that straitjacket was the worn remains of his signature suit. Faye's eyes widened but there was no emotion in them. Only silence. 

"Faye?" said Sam. 

Faye began whispering to herself. "I still don't get it. Why is he still alive? Why hadn't Vicious gotten the killing over with?" 

"Umh." Said a weary voice. Faye looked over at Spike. He didn't move an inch, but his eyes were opening and his lips were slowly parting. What would he say to her? More importantly what will Faye say to Spike now that they both knew he was truly alive? 

"Spike?…I really don't know what to say. Please…say something for me…" Faye seemed desperate as she spoke. The situation seemed to be exhausting and awkward, but there was a lack of joy. Wasn't she happy to see Spike alive? 

Spike's head began to move and his blinking mismatched eyes met up with Faye's. 

"Who…who are you?"


	9. Faye's Real Folk Blues

****

Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)   
**By Fantasy Cat**   
**Disclaimer: _I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!_**   
**Chapter Eight: Faye's Real Folk Blues (formerly known as: _It's a Lunkhead Free Syndicate Battle)_**

Faye was shocked by his response. 

"Spike. It's me, Faye. Are you alright?" 

"Spike?" he answered back. "My name is Spike?" 

"This can't be good," said Sam. 

Faye grabbed Spike and began to shake him. "Spike! This isn't funny! Stop being stupid!!" Faye dropped her head in frustration. "You really don't remember?" she asked him. 

"He says I'm…ill…mentally ill," Spike said in small breaths. 

"Vicious? Vicious told you you're mental?" Faye asked surprisingly. 

"He has been in a straight jacket," said Sam. "I think he's brainwashed, Faye." 

"Well, this is just great!" she said. "Spike leaves and comes back as an insane mental patient. Just amazing! I dunno what I'm pissed off at more: the fact that he's crazy or the fact that left us in the first place!" 

"Us?" asked Sam. 

"Me and Jet." Faye suddenly got an idea. "Hey you remember Jet don't you? And Ed? And Ein?" Faye thought that maybe he was purposely forgetting only her as a joke. She took in a deep sigh before she went on to her next question…"What about Julia?" 

"Julia…do I know Julia? Do I know you?" Spike muttered for Faye to hear. 

"THAT DOES IT! I GIVE UP! SCREW YOU, SPIKE! I'M GOING HOME! YOU CAN GO AND GET YOURSELF KILLED AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO EVEN THINK ABOUT YOU ANYMORE!" With tears, Faye rushed out of the apartment. She didn't care if the Syndicate was out looking for them. She didn't know where to go or what to do seeing that she had no idea what had happened to her Redtail. 

Sam was left alone in his secret apartment with Spike. "Wow. This is the closest I have ever been to a mental patient. Hee. Hee. Hee." 

"That's not funny," mumbled the mental and amnesiac Spike. 

"I tried," said Sam. 

"Why is Faye mad at me?" Spike asked. 

"I can't be exactly sure. From what I've learned, you and her were bounty hunters, and you came back to the Syndicate to try and kill Vicious." 

"Why would I want to kill him?" 

"Who doesn't wanna kill him, Spike? All he does is kill folks now. He murdered the VAN just to take over the damn Syndicate. And Lord knows how many times he's tried to kill you."   
Spike put his arm over his forehead giving Sam the sign that he was suffering from a major headache, so Sam rushed to the kitchen for a glass of water and aspirin. 

"But-what was Faye doing there?" Spike asked in pain. 

"You know Spike, I think she really cares about ya. I mean, Vicious imprisoned her like you for months just because she went off to find you. After you left the Syndicate all everyone ever talked about around here were you, Vicious, and Julia. I think you would've done better with Faye. At least she has guts, unlike Julia."   
"Is she coming back?" 

"She better," said Sam. "I don't baby-sit the insane". 

"Hey!"   
  
**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Faye walked down the block in frustration and anger. But she was careful as to keep out of sight in the case of Syndicate members. Unfortunately, she was unaware that someone had watched her step out of the crappy apartment building. The Syndicate member, who spotted her, quickly phoned Vicious. 

"We found them," he said. "Apartment 3286 on Hanai. The girl left the building, but Spike should still be inside. Should I follow her?" 

"Forget about her," Vicious responded on the other line. "Spike's the one I want. Just stay there and make sure that Spike doesn't leave!"   


"STUPID-LUNKHEAD-CAN'T-REMEMBER-WHAT-THE-HELL-HIS-NAME-IS! LEAVES-THE-BEBOP-TO-GET-STUPID-AMNESIA! DOESN'T-GIVE-A-DAMN-SHIT-ABOUT-ME! Why is this happening to me?!" Faye was still storming about with anger and some tears in her eyes. In her anger and sadness, she looked up only to realize that she stormed around in circles and was once again walking along the same street as Sam's apartment building. She grunted in anger. Suddenly, a loud noise of screeching cars was approaching. Remembering the Syndicate, Faye quickly dove behind a nearby Dumpster. A group of black cars stopped immediately in front of the apartment. Sure enough, out came the Red Dragons. As soon as Faye saw Vicious step outside, chills began to run down her spine as she realized how close she was to all the action and recalling the events of her imprisonment with him for the last 3 months. 

"Oh, shit. Spike!" She whispered. She never had a chance to change out of her torn and smelly dress nor did she have any weapons to fight off with.   


Sam was looking out his living room window to see the noise. "Uh, Spike. I think we're screwed." The Red Dragons were storming the building checking one room at a time. Two more floors, four more doors, and Sam and Spike would be deader than a crushed worm. Sam rushed into his bedroom to grab some guns. While he was in this process, he heard some noise from his window. Someone was throwing rocks at it. He carefully looked over. He opened his window when he saw Faye below in the alley. "HELP ME, FAYE!!!" Sam screamed in his usual cowardly tone. "Throw me a gun!" she called out. 

"How do you know I have guns?" he asked. 

"You're holding one in your hand!" 

Sam looked and quickly tossed the loaded gun. As soon as Faye caught it, she moved into the building. Sam rushed over with his loaded gun back to Spike. "Come on, we gotta get outta here!" Sam said trying to drag Spike into a closet.   


But before he could open the closet, the front door burst open with numerous guns pointing at him. 

"Sam Kaito," said Vicious approaching in front of the group. "There's no hiding anything from me. I had my ways of finding out that you told the VAN about some of my plots". 

Vicious's goons prepared their triggers… 

**__**


	10. Accepted Destiny

****

Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)   
**By Fantasy Cat**   
**Disclaimer:_ I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!_**   
**Chapter Nine: Accepted Destiny**

But someone was already firing from behind and Vicious whirled around to see most of his Syndicate members falling. "Nice entrance, Miss Valentine," he said. 

Faye held out her gun to Vicious's head. The other few remaining Red Dragons were about to fire at Faye, but Vicious told them to stand down. 

Faye spoke up, "Spike's in no condition to try and bring you down." 

"You're right," Vicious replied. "I hear rumors around the Syndicate as well. Some guards heard my executed talk about how you're destined to kill me. Shall we see, if you're right?" 

__

'He's kidding, right?' Faye thought to herself as she loaded. All of the sudden, bullets were whizzing at her, but she dove just in time. The other Red Dragons members closed in. From one side of the room came, more bullets, but they struck down the remaining goons. Sam peered out from behind a couch on the side, where Spike laid by him with a 'thumbs up'. 

"Trying to hind behind your goons, Vicious?" said Faye. "I thought you were a fighter. No wonder, you carry that stupid sword instead of a gun." 

Vicious drew out his katana normally, as if he wasn't offended by Faye's remark. "This will be a battle of speed, Miss Valentine. That is how I win my battles. Not with goons. What a pity, I'm not one who would like to harm a woman in such a matter. Perhaps you would consider calling it quits and return Spike to me. You know that I no longer have any intention of killing him." 

"Then why are you doing this to him?" Faye asked. 

"All of those times I have come face to face with Spike, I see that he has more desire to kill in his eyes. Being a…bounty hunter has made him forget who he is. When I learned that Julia had learned of our takedown, I realized that it was her who gave Spike his motive to kill. It was a shame that she died. However, if I kept Spike alive trapped with the memories of his past inside of him, perhaps he would come back and be a fighter…for me." 

"You didn't make him a killer again. You just gave him mental breakdowns," said Faye. 

"That's how it all begins…shall we?…" Vicious swooped his sword but Faye dodged it. She pulled the trigger and made a bad miss. When the sword came back in the opposite direction she use the gun as the sword to keep it from striking her in the side. She realized that she was not strong enough to keep it back whatsoever. But she needed a way to dodge it again without getting scratched. _'A battle of speed' _she thought. She fired the gun again, this time distracting Vicious and she quickly dove beneath him and rolled away. Faye, who stood up on her knees, fired again, but it only hit the blade of his sword and the bullet nearly bounced back at her. 

Sam kept careful watch form his hiding space of all the action. Spike looked up to see Vicious. "It's him," he moaned. "Faye?" he whispered. 

Faye checked her ammunition. Only one bullet left why was she not surprised? Sam noticed her situation and tried to fire Vicious from behind only to find out that his gun had one bullet less than Faye's did. 

"One bullet. My fate," said Vicious as he approached Faye. Before Faye could stand up, Vicious took one foot and pushed her back down on the floor by the chest. "Doesn't this bring you back memories of our months together?" he said down at her nearly spitting. 

"I remember puking," she said jokingly. Her last bullet was being aimed up at him as she was struggling to shoot his forehead. Then, she felt a sudden ounce of pain and she looked back down. The blade of Vicious's katana was cutting slicing the skin across her stomach, slowly and painfully, very painfully. She only had one chance with little time. She screamed in pain and with very little vision she looked at Vicious's now blurry vision and aimed a little lower, at his heart or chest she hoped. She hoped and then fired… 

Silence filled the apartment. Blood was everywhere. Pain screamed in silence, but Sam saw it all…   
Vicious went down in front of him. His last breaths could say nothing more but "I am satisfied". 

Spike walked over weakly and looked down at the now dead Vicious. Faye moaned in pain and in anger that no one was paying attention to her. "FAYE!" cried Sam. 

"Faye…" Spike said softly. "I…I don't understand. You killed him…instead of me." 

Faye drew a smile. She could tell that Spike's memory was returning. "Glad to see that you're remembering," she said. She screamed in pain again. The bleeding was worsening. Sam was already calling and ambulance and Spike was making a bad attempt to keep the bleeding from continuing. 

Faye was blurry again, but she could hear him. "Hang on, Faye," was what Spike said before everything around her went black. 


	11. Epilogue

**Destiny Lies in the Syndicate (a.k.a. the Prophecy of Faye Valentine)**   
**By Fantasy Cat**   
**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Sam cuz Sam rocks!!!!!**   
**Epilogue**   


Waking up…it felt almost as if she had been frozen once again to be brought into a new strange world as lonely as she was in the world before. Then her eyes met those like a cat staring back at her. 

"AHHHH!" They both screamed. 

"YAY! Edward wake Faye-Faye!" 

"ED?!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" 

"I think I should be asking you that, but I won't," another familiar face entered the hospital room.   
"Jet…I can explain…" said Faye feeling as if she was in trouble with him. After all, she had mysteriously disappeared from the Bebop for several months. 

"You can spare me the details, woman. Maybe save them for a bedtime story," 

"Faye tell Edward 'bedtime story'?" Edward jumped on the bed again in excitement. 

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Say Jet? Where'd you pick her up?" 

"Went after a small bounty on Earth and we ran into each other. In fact she basically caught the guy for me," Jet laughed insanely. Ed giggled along with him. "It's a long story. I'll tell ya some time." 

"So the Bebop's running again?" 

"Yeah. Took me a month to get the thing out of that stinking place. I found some guys to help me move the thing for cheap." 

"And I see your leg's getting better." 

"Oh yeah. Ed and I caught a few more bounties after we saw each other."__

_'Jet and Ed working together?'_ Faye shuddered at the thought. _'Weird'_

"Come on, Ed. Let Faye get some rest." 

"Resty-rest Faye-Faye." Ed hopped away out of the room. 

"By the way. We found your Red Tail, but don't count on it being as neat as it was when you left it." 

"What? Hey!" 

Jet and Ed had already left the room by this time. Faye took her blanket and lie back down on her pillow again till she heard the door creak. She was too tired to get up again. She then sniffed the air. It was filling with a familiar tobacco smoke. She looked up; it had to be the green puffy hair lunkhead with his cigarette 

"Spike? Of all people? What's your business here?' 

"I've come to say goodbye' 

"Typical of you to disappear in and out of the world eh? 

"It won't be like that. After all, I have a destiny to complete too. I have to take over the Red Dragons. Just like you had to kill Vicious. I'm still shocked and confused about that." 

"Good," said Faye cheerfully. 

Spike pulls out a cigarette. "But I guess I cant play favorites with life. Anyway...um...thanks," 

"You're thanking me? You had to drag me to this hospital, I bet. By the way, where's Sam?" 

"He's doin' some cleanup at headquarters." 

"I can't believe it's still standing or thet you're still standing." 

"It's hard to kill, just like me," Spike paused as he disposed his cigarette.   
"Faye I never got to apologize for what I put you through. I mean I lost my sanity for three months in that place every attempt at suicide was impossible. They made sure it was. Anyway, being there also had me thinking too. All I wanted was to get rid of a past that was mine no matter what. It was a torn decision, Faye I thought I was protecting you guys and myself by meeting my end. But I've come to realize things. I cant explain it though." 

"I won't be the same on the Bebop," said Faye. 

"You're going back?" asked Spike. 

"It's all I have. At least you still have the Syndicate." 

"Yeah, I told Jet that if he avoided Red Dragon bounties, I can send him some money. After all, when I come to visit I want to be able to have beef with my bell peppers." 

"Visit? Then who'll watch the place?" 

"Sam can. He's next in line and good a shooter as me." Spike began to walk out the door throwing to Faye a new pack of cigarettes. 

"Cant remember the last you smoked, eh?" 

"Nope" 

"Enjoy it then. You'll feel alot better around people." 

Spike dissappeared from the room. 

Faye put the cigarettes aside for when she would get out of the hospital. She turned her head to the window and saw the sky brightening up. Change was a part of life and Faye would always have more than enough share of change. Still she wished that she hadn't have to be so pursuant of the past. But now, at least there's a family she can go back to when she got out.   
"Come back soon, Spike," she whispered and she lied down again.   


**THE END**

AN: okay that's it! I got some kickass reviewers! By the way I know that I said that I was gonna have a big surprise. However, I'm submitting this story to another fanfic contest so the surprise will have to come into play at the opening of the sequel. And the name of that sequel shall be...:   
**"The Vengeance on Faye Valentine"**   
**Coming this Summer 2003!**   
**See ya then!**


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